Covered core



' Dec. 5, 1944.; c. N. STOVER COVERED. CORES ori inai Filed Oct. 50, 1941 //VV/VTOR CMSTOl/Ef? Arron/5 Patented Dec. 5, 1944 4 COVERED CORE Clyde N. Stover, Towson, Md., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Original application October 30, 1941, Serial No. 417,102. Divided and this application March 28, 1942, Serial No. 436,662

6 Claims.

This invention relates to covered cores and more particularly to flexible electrical cores having knitted fabric coverings, and is a division of my co-pending application, Serial No. 417,102, filed October 30, 1941.

In flexible cores or conductors having weft knit coverings in which the courses run parallel to the longitudinal axis. of the conductor, there is a tendency for the meshes of the knitted fabric to open when the conductor is twisted in either direction.

An object of the present invention is to provide a kni ted fabric covering for a flexible core in which the. meshes do not open when the core is twisted.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a flexible electrical conductor has applied thereto a knitted fabric covering in such a manner that the coursesv and wales spiral around the conductor in opposite hands, that is, the

courses spiral in one direction and the wales spiral in the opposite direction, whereby any tendency of the meshes of the knitting to open upon twisting or bending the conductor is reduced to a minimum.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying, drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic front elevational view of one embodiment of an. apparatus for applying the knitted fabric covering of this invention to a flexible electrical conductor, and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged. diagrammatic fragmentary View of a knitted fabric covering applied to a flexible electrical conductor.

Referring to the drawing, in which the knitted fabric covering applying apparatus is shown diagrammatically and particularly to Fig. 1, a stationary frame In is shown upon which is mounted a knitting head, indicated, in general, at H, which may be of any suitable construction, the particular knitting head shown being of the type described more indetail in U. S. Patent No. 2,239,- 4.06 to C. N. Stover, of April 22, 1941. operation of the apparatus, a suitable number of threads l2 are drawn from supply spools or cops 13 supported on the frame l6.

Bodily rotatable about the vertical axis of the knitting head H at the upper end of the frame Ill is a supply reel l4 carrying a core or electrical conductor 15 to be covered in accordance with the method of this invention The reel 14 is rotatable about its longitudinal axis. upon a spindle l6 carried on a yoke shaped frame 11, having a depending hollow vertical spindle I8 In the" suitably journalled in the frame Ill and through which the conductor 15 travels from the reel to the knitting head ll.

Mounted below the knitting head ll upon a cross frame IQ of the frame I0 is a bodily rotatable capstan 20 (Fig. 1) for drawing theconductor 15 from the supply reel l4 and through the knitting head I l, The capstan 20 is rotatably mounted on a hollow standard 2t rotatabl-y journalled on the cross frame l9- about the vertical axis of the knitting head. Depending from the standard 2| is a hollow spindle (not shown), to which is attached a yoke shaped frame 25 for supporting a take-up reel 26 for the covered conductcr 15, the take-up reel being suitably attached to a rotatable spindle 21 journalled in the frame 25. The conductor 15 passes from the capstan 26, through the hollow standard 2| and spindle to the take-up reel 26, which is rotatable about its longitudinal axis with the spindle 21.

The core supply and take-up reels, l4 and 26, respectively, and the capstan 26 are bodily rotated in a counter-clockwise direction, viewed from above, as indicated by the arrow upon the knitting head H. A needle carrier, indicated, in general, at 28, of the knitting head I I also rotates in a direction similar to that of" the supply and take-up reels and capstan, although at a higher rate of speed, For bodily rotating in unison in a counter-clockwise direction, the supply and take-up reels and capstan, rotating the capstan and take-up reel about their horizontal axes and for operating the knitting head H, the following driving mechanism is provided.

Mounted on the upper end surface of the frame I0 is an electric driving motor 3|, which drives a vertical shaft 32, which is journalled upon the frame Ill, through a pair of bevel gears 33 fixed to the motor shaft and the shaft 32. Fixed to the shaft 32. below the gears 33 is a sprocket wheel 34, which is operatively connected to a sprocket wheel 35 fixed to the hollow spindle l8 of the supply reel frame l1 by a sprocket chain 38. Below a base and gear box 39 of the knitting head II is a horizontal shaft 46, which is'driven at one end from the shaft 32 by bevel gears 4! fixed to the shafts. The shaft 48, at its opposite end, drives a shaft 42 depending from the knitting head gear box 39 by means of bevel gears 45 fixed to the shafts' At its lower end, below the cross frame 19, the shaft 32 has fixed thereto a sprocket wheel 46, which is operatively connected to a sprocket wheel 41 carried by the take-up reel frame 25 by a sprocket chain 48,

During the bodily rotation of the capstan 2!].

and its standard 2|, the capstan is rotated at a suitable speed about its longiudinal axis in order to draw the covered conductor I5 through the knitting head and feed it to the take-up reel 25. This is effected by means of a stationary beveled ring gear 49 surrounding the standard 2| and fixed to the cross ,frame l9 and meshing with a beveled pinion 52 fixed to a shaft 53 Journalled on the standard. Attached to the shaft 53 is a sprocket wheel 54, which is operatively connected by a sprocket chain 55 to a sprocket wheel 55 fixed to a shaft 60 journalled in the standard 2| carrying the capstan 20. It will be apparent, during the counter-clockwise bodily rotation of the capstan 20 and its standard 2!, which carries the bevel pinion 52, that the latter will be rotated due to its engagement with the stationary beveled ring gear 49 and thereby, through the sprocket and chain connection drive, the capstan 20 at a suitable speed in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed from the left in Fig. 1.

Also, during the bodily rotation of the take-up reel frame 25 and the capstan 20, the take-up reel 28 will'be rotated about its longitudinal axis with the spindle 21 in order to take up the covered conductor l5. Due to the increasing diameter of the wound-up covered conductor l5 on the reel, it is necessary in order to maintain a substantially constant tension on the covered conductor and to take it up uniformly that the speed of rotation of the reel be reduced as the diameter of the covered conductor wound up on the reel increases. Surrounding and rotatably free on the spindle previously mentioned, which depends from the capstan standard 21, is a sleeve-like member having a gear '62 formed thereon. The gear 62 meshes with a pinion fixed to a shaft journalled in the take-up reel frame 25. Journalled in the frame 25 is a, prizontally extending shaft 61, which is driven" 10m the shaft, to which is fixed the pinion 63,"by beveled gears 68 fixed to the shafts. To an end of the shaft 61 is attached a sprocket Wheel 69, which is operatively connected to a, sprocket wheel HI, fixed to the take-up reel spindle 21, by a sprocket chain 1 l.

The sleeve-like member depending from the capstan standard 2| is also formed with a brake drum (not shown) around which extends a brake band 14, which is suitably tensioned and controlled by means (not shown) which functions to apply the desired braking action of the band 14 on the drum. A reduction in the speed of rotation of the pinion 63 is effected through slippage of drum reducing the speed of rotation of the take-up reel 26 as it becomes filled with the covered'conductor IS.

The covered conductor i5, as it is wound upon the reel 26, is uniforml laid back and forth across the reel by a suitable distributor mechanism, indicated in general at 15. A rotary distributor shaft 16 for traversing the mechanism 15 is driven from the shaft 67 by cooperating gears 11 fixed to the shafts.

A more detailed description and disclosure of the means described above for laying the covered conductor uniformly across the reel is not believed necessary since such mechanisms are well known in the art of reeling and are not believed necessary to a full understanding of this invention.

A knitted fabric covering made by the apparatus described, as stated above, has its courses spiralling around the flexible core in one direction and its Wales spiralling around the core in the opposite direction. Another way of describing the knitted covering of this invention would be to say that the lines or series of knots formed at the bases of the loops spiral around the core in one direction and the loops spiral around the core in the opposite direction.

It will be noted that the thread supplies in the apparatus described do not rotate about the axis of the core or conductor being covered. If, therefore, the conductor were not rotated during the application of the covering, the courses would be substantially parallel to the axis of the conductor, but by bodily rotating the conductor, the courses may be spiralled at any desired angle or pitch, depending uponthe rate of rotation of the conductor for a given longitudinal speed. In order for the courses and wales to spiral in an opposite sense, the needle cylinder and conductor must rotate in the same direction. It is obvious, from these considerations, that the conductor may be made non-rotative and the thread supplies and needle cylinder rotated in opposite directions to produce the same result. s

It will be understood that the nature and embodiments of the invention herein disclosed are merely illustrative and that many changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is! 1. A flexible core and covering comprising a conductor having a knitted fabric covering in which the courses and wales spiral around the conductor in opposite hands.

2. A conductor having a knitted fabric in which the courses and wales spiral around the conductor in opposite directions.

3. A flexible conductor having a knitted fabric covering of spiralled courses and wales of opposite hands.

4. A conductor having a knitted fabric in which the lines of knots formed at the bases of the loops spiral around the conductor in one direction and the loops spiral around the conductor in the opposite direction.

5. An electric conductor having a knitted tubular covering in which its knit loops are arranged side by side to form courses of loops extending spirally around the conductor, the respective loops being knit to lie spirally of the conductor and form wales extending in spirals around the conductor, the courses and wales being of opposite hands.

6. A flexible conductor having a knitted fabric covering in which the courses spiral around the conductor at one angle to the longitudinal axis of the conductor in one direction and the wales spiral around the conductor in the opposite direction at substantially the same angle.

CLYDE N. STOVER. 

